Because wheat, rye, barley, spelt and oats aren’t allowed on Passover (unless they’re in matzo or matzo meal), Passover can be a great gluten-free holiday. You can find gluten-free versions of foods that you can’t find the rest of the year, like gluten-free matzo ball mix, blintzes, cookies and cakes. But be careful to avoid my eternal mistake (when will I ever learn?), and don’t overbuy Passover products. Passover foods are almost always expensive, but they don’t always taste great.

Many foods are labeled “gluten-free” and some are labeled “non-gebrokts” (which is basically the equivalent of gluten-free). Non-gebrokts foods are increasing in popularity because of the growing Hassidic population and gluten-free population.

— My top recommendation is Lieber’s Knaidel Mix. This gluten-free matzo ball mix makes light and fluffy matzo balls (called knaidlach in Yiddish). My guests have asked for seconds, unaware that the matzo balls were gluten-free. Another gluten-free matzo ball option is Frankel’s Matzo-Free Balls. These premade frozen gluten-free matzo balls (six to a package) are convenient when you want to take individual gluten-free matzo balls to a relative’s house to drop in their chicken soup.

— Don’t let the “breaded” fool you, Spring Valley Breaded Chicken Pattie Nuggets (sorry, I can’t find an online link) are coated with potato starch – a great find, since it’s hard to find gluten-free kosher chicken nuggets. Make sure the bag is labeled kosher for Passover and non-gebrokts. I also bought Spring Valley Frozen Stuffed Chicken Rolls — a good gluten-free kosher quick lunch. Also, it’s hard to find gluten-free blintzes during the year, so I stock up on gluten-free Spring Valley Blintzes, which come in cheese, apple and blueberry flavors. Make sure the box is labeled kosher for Passover and non-gebrokts, as only the Passover blintzes are gluten-free, not the ones they produce the rest of the year.

— Gefilte fish often is part of Passover meals, but most gefilte fish contains matzo meal. For the past few years, I’ve bought Kedem Gourmet Gefilte Fish, which is made without matzo meal, is gluten-free and does not contain MSG. This year, I also spotted Rokeach “Gourmet Sweet” and Rokeach “Heimeshe Sweet” gluten-free gefilte fish. Also, some of the frozen gefilte fish loaves are gluten-free.

— There has been a debate the past few years about whether quinoa is kosher for Passover. Quinoa is not a grain, but some want to count it as kitniyot and not permit it. Other rabbis say it’s fine for Passover. For a discussion of quinoa, see this article, “Quinoa, ‘mother of all grains,’ may (or may not) be kosher for Passover” published by the JTA news service, which has a quote at the end from me. (To save you the suspense, here’s the quote: “It’s a tiny powerhouse packed with protein, vitamins and minerals, and it’s an important grain alternative, especially on Passover,” Becker said. “It’s great to have it on Passover instead of the usual potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. Most of the Passover foods just end up tasting like Passover, so we rely on quinoa to be that side staple.”)

— New this year is a seasoned version of Jeff Nathan Creations Gluten-Free Panko Flakes. I used the plain panko flakes last year as a gluten-free crumb coating for chicken and fish and liked their texture. But they didn’t have much taste, so I’m happy to see a seasoned version.

— I hate it when I open a bag of tapioca starch and get coated in a puff of white powder. So I like the fact that Gefen Tapioca Starch comes in an easily reclosable canister. I also like the reclosable canisters of potato starch from a few Passover brands.

— Dr Praeger’s offers some nice gluten-free options year-round and even more during Passover. I bought “Potato Crusted Fishies,” though now my kids have informed me that they will not eat fish sticks. Go figure.

— You can now buy so many gluten-free cookies, crackers and cakes throughout the year, it doesn’t make sense to buy the Passover versions, which are generally less nutritious and less tasty. Sometimes I’m tempted to buy the boxed bakery-style cookies, though most tend to be expensive and sugary. Still, it is sometimes nice to keep a box or two in the freezer. Shabtai Gourmet, a kosher bakery, is dedicated to baking gluten-free Passover goodies year-round. Oberlander’s , Schick’s and Hagadda also have a selection of gluten-free, bakery-style Passover cakes and cookies. I skip the Passover cake mixes; they’re generally not great. There are some frozen cake loaves that can be worthwhile, such as Osem marble cake and pound cake, which are small and easy to keep in the freezer.

— Generally, I skip the Passover noodles, pizza, pancakes and waffles. They usually end up mushy and gummy. Although this year I did buy frozen Heaven and Health gluten-free potato gnocchi.

— I’m always tempted by snack foods. I love all the boxes of chocolate available at Passover, though check the ingredients — not all are gluten-free. For snacks this year, I bought Guiltless Gourmet Crunchies nut squares and Paskesz Soft Crunch granola-style bars.

8 responses to “Gluten-Free Passover Foods 2013”

Hi. I tried Yehuda gluten free meal today for the knaidlach. It doesn’t have a recipe on the container and their website doesn’t have any information at all. I tried winging it with the standard recipe, cooling the mix for around thirty minutes, cooking for .5 hour and then more time in the soup. They’re gummy soft on the outside and not cooked enough inside. I’ll put them aside and make regular ones tomorrow. From what I’ve read so far, the mix is supposed to be in the fridge overnight. I’m sure some of my ratios were off too.

Disappointing that it didn’t work. I haven’t tried the Yehuda gluten-free meal yet but have heard mixed responses to it. I am a big fan of Lieber’s knaidel mix for gluten-free matza balls, though it can be hard to find.
Eve

I found the foods featured above at the Jewel with a large kosher section in Evanston (on Howard Street) and at the Hungarian Kosher Supermarket in Skokie. The Hungarian had the Spring Valley nuggets last year. Unfortunately, I cannot find a website for Spring Valley.

Hi Eve, Just came across this website while checking out if Kedem Gefilte Fish for Passover 2013, is gluten free. I’m shopping for the New Year and found Kedem Gefilte Fish (Kosher for Passover) at Costco. The jars don’t say “gluten free,” but they do say, “no matzoh meal” and potato starch is used as the binder. I’m happy to read on your site, Gluten Free Nosh, that Kedem Gefilte Fish is safe for Celiacs. I wanted to let you know, I tried gluten free Manischewitz Noodles this past Passover in a kugel recipe and was not disappointed. The noodles did not get mushy as you experienced with your brand of gluten free Passover noodles. They held up well after boiling them and again during the baking process. The fruited kugel I made, was delicious and a big hit. I will make it again for my Rosh Hashana dinner guests. Thank You, Sara

I jusut threw out a larger than it should have been amount of last years passover food that I was sure I would use … wish we could get all the items you talked about though here in Sydney, but I did get an idea of how to make fried mashed potato balls instead of matzo balls for the soup … so that was great you sent your list, it inspired me. thank you ad for all your wonderful emails, have a great Pesach.

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My youngest daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease when she turned 2. In the past seven years, we’ve learned how to create gluten-free versions of our favorite foods and traditional Jewish foods and how to navigate through restaurants, school and birthday parties gluten-free.